The Hakone City Guides answer what nearly every visitor here wonders: where to have lunch in Gora before the queues form, which way round the loop beats the ropeway crowds, what children can do when wind closes the volcano and how to enjoy the lake and the old Tokaido road without paying ryokan prices. Each guide is a short, honest list that says why a place deserves your time, what to order or look out for and one practical tip, and it opens in your browser the moment you have paid.
About the Hakone City Guides
- 98 places
- 5 guides
- 7 languages
- Works offline
- Print or PDF
- Instant access
- Free updates
The five Hakone guides
Food guide
18 places
Mountain-yam soba and yuba in Yumoto, historic hotel bakeries in Miyanoshita, gyoza and tofu katsu in Gora, black eggs at Owakudani and an old teahouse on the Tokaido road.
Things to do guide
18 places
A moss garden and a sculpture park, the full loop by mountain train, ropeway and lake boat, the shrine in the cedars, an Edo checkpoint and an onsen that is relaxed about tattoos.
Family guide
20 places
A pirate ship, ropeways over a steaming crater, a giant climbing net in a sculpture park, museums for wet days, hot-spring pools for children and easy family meals.
Day trips guide
22 places
Odawara Castle, the Enoura Observatory and the lava coast of Izu, the best of the Hakone loop, the Fuji side, then Kamakura and Enoshima, with trains, buses and fares.
Budget guide
20 places
Free shrines, waterfalls and hikes, lunches under ¥1,500, cheap public onsen and the point at which the Hakone Freepass pays off.
Why an interactive guide beats a list
Tick places off
Mark each place as done and watch your progress, so you always know what is left.
Your own notes
Write notes on any place and add your own finds. They stay on your phone.
One tap to Maps
Every place opens in Google Maps, and the day route puts your picks in a sensible order.
Open now, near me
Filter by what is open right now or what is closest to you.
Works offline
Open the guide once with a connection and it keeps working without data.
Print it or save as PDF
On a computer, print any guide or save it as a PDF to take with you.
Three places from the guides
Tamura Ginkatsu-tei
Gora, 3 min from Gora station
Skip the pork cutlets and order tofu katsu-ni: local tofu layered with minced pork, fried, then finished with egg and served in its pan. A set runs about ¥1,600 to ¥2,000; sit down before 11:30 and you miss the noon queue. From the food guide.
Hakone Museum of Art
Gora
The ceramics are modest; the garden is why you come. Over a hundred kinds of moss carpet the ground under the maples, and the teahouse serves matcha with a sweet. Entry is about ¥900, with a joint ticket for Gora Park next door. From the things to do guide.
The Hakone Open-Air Museum
Ninotaira, by Chokoku-no-Mori station
Children crawl right inside Woods of Net, a huge crocheted play structure, while parents look at sculpture on the lawns. Add a stained-glass tower to climb, a maze, a Picasso pavilion and a warm foot bath. From the family guide.
Plan your days in Hakone
Day one: take the mountain train up to Gora, spend the morning at the Open-Air Museum, have tofu katsu for lunch, then ride the ropeway over Owakudani for black eggs and sail the pirate ship across to Moto-Hakone. Day two: reach Hakone Shrine early, follow the cedar avenue to the Sekisho checkpoint, climb the Old Tokaido to the Amasake Chaya teahouse and end in the Sengokuhara grass fields, or go down to the coast at Odawara instead. For a rainy or slow day, pair the Pola Museum or the Venetian glass museum with an afternoon at Yunessun or Tenzan Onsen and stew bread from Watanabe Bakery.
Questions about the Hakone guides
What do the Hakone City Guides include?
Five guides covering 98 places: food, things to do, family, day trips and budget. Each entry explains why it is worth going, where it is, practical notes and one tip you can use on the day.
How do I receive the guides once I have paid?
The links appear on your order confirmation page and in the email that follows. They open in the browser of any phone, tablet or laptop, with no app to install and no account to create.
Can I use the Hakone guides without internet?
Yes. Open each guide once while connected and it keeps working offline after that, ticks and notes included. Opening a place in maps needs mobile data.
Which languages are the Hakone guides available in?
The guides open in English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. You can switch the language inside the guide at any time.
How much do the guides cost?
One guide is €4.99, two are €8.99, four are €15.99 and all five are €19.99. You choose the guides you want when you order.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.